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A review by brussel777sprouts777
Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked Into an Intellectual Black Hole by Stephen Law
4.0
Not at all what I was expecting. The author's writing style was hard for me to get through, but I believe the book accomplishes what it sets out to do: How does one identify when someone is professing baloney. And that is to arm the reader with a framework by which he or she can identify and reason with unreasonable belief systems.
The first two chapters were intellectually complex with philosophical and logical reasoning. This was a partial turn off, but I found it very interesting for this and one other reason. The second being the way that fundamental and/or evangelical Christianity promotes its beliefs are identified and discussed. If I got it correctly, basic scientific reasoning can be used to argue against "young earth creationism". Do not underestimate the simplicity of how I have stated this; he goes into vastly more detail in analyzing and arguing the questions about what is 'true'.
Be forewarned, I sense the author has a thing against religion in general.
The last few chapters are more straightforward. In one later chapter he talks about how cults use a system of five techniques to "brainwash" individuals with "isolation, control, uncertainty, repetition and emotion." I do not remember having these techniques spelled out for me previously, but it was fascinating and horrifying to read in his "Tapescrew Letters" (yes, it is a takeoff on C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters) how religious organizations often try to take control of someone's life. I have had friends that got sucked into cults before, and I believe we should all be aware of the techniques that are used here! I am thinking of my children and yours too.
I used this framework twice yesterday. Once when two Jehovah's witnesses came to the door yesterday and tried to pry into my emotional state, and again later on when I heard an analyst on the radio talking about how every abortion prevents the net gain of $500,000 in the overall GDP. (Because of course this helps put people to work and pays down the national debt. Right.)
A lot of what this book has to state is common sense for many, so it may not be worth your time. If you find yourself interested in the verity in belief systems in religion, politics, and other issues in which there is no obvious consensus, the framework Stephen Law sets out may be useful for you.
The first two chapters were intellectually complex with philosophical and logical reasoning. This was a partial turn off, but I found it very interesting for this and one other reason. The second being the way that fundamental and/or evangelical Christianity promotes its beliefs are identified and discussed. If I got it correctly, basic scientific reasoning can be used to argue against "young earth creationism". Do not underestimate the simplicity of how I have stated this; he goes into vastly more detail in analyzing and arguing the questions about what is 'true'.
Be forewarned, I sense the author has a thing against religion in general.
The last few chapters are more straightforward. In one later chapter he talks about how cults use a system of five techniques to "brainwash" individuals with "isolation, control, uncertainty, repetition and emotion." I do not remember having these techniques spelled out for me previously, but it was fascinating and horrifying to read in his "Tapescrew Letters" (yes, it is a takeoff on C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters) how religious organizations often try to take control of someone's life. I have had friends that got sucked into cults before, and I believe we should all be aware of the techniques that are used here! I am thinking of my children and yours too.
I used this framework twice yesterday. Once when two Jehovah's witnesses came to the door yesterday and tried to pry into my emotional state, and again later on when I heard an analyst on the radio talking about how every abortion prevents the net gain of $500,000 in the overall GDP. (Because of course this helps put people to work and pays down the national debt. Right.)
A lot of what this book has to state is common sense for many, so it may not be worth your time. If you find yourself interested in the verity in belief systems in religion, politics, and other issues in which there is no obvious consensus, the framework Stephen Law sets out may be useful for you.